Bay County, FL — On Wednesday afternoon of this week, a dump truck driver was taken to a hospital after his truck was in a rollover accident. Tyler Weidman, 25, was identified as the victim and this happened around 12:45 p.m. that afternoon, September 9, 2015.
Weidman was reportedly driving his dump truck along U.S. 79 that afternoon, headed south, when a tire on the truck suddenly blew out.
The dump truck lost control and careened off the highway, rolling over and landing on its side in a wooded area. Weidman was injured and trapped in the driver’s seat for some time before paramedics could rescue him and take him to a hospital. Right now, it’s not clear why the tire blew out.
Map of the Area
Commentary:
Tire blowouts are common causes of accidents, but that doesn’t mean that people should dismiss them as “common” and unimportant. For starters, a tire giving out can sometimes mean that it was defective or shoddily-made — not just that it was old or had a nail in it. But the other thing I want to mention concerns drivers of commercial trucks. If a company owns a vehicle, they’re responsible for keeping it road-worthy, and that includes making sure the tires aren’t ragged, worn, and at the end of their life.
You’d think that would be a no-brainer for most companies, but you’d be surprised at how often I see truckers hurt due because their poorly-maintained vehicle had an accident. I’m not implying that’s what happened here, but I want to at least give this driver the benefit of the doubt, because there’s really no evidence that shows us what happened, one way or the other.
— Grossman Law Offices
